


The Good Ones Take Time

by melliejellie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, krtsk sweetheart zine 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22515199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melliejellie/pseuds/melliejellie
Summary: It's Kuroo and Tsukishima's first morning together and Kuroo decides that a good way to make it special is by preparing a delicious breakfast -- well, the best breakfast he can in his tiny, old kitchen.After that, Tsukishima thinks he needs to keep the new tradition going.It's sweet, breakfast fluff!
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 14
Kudos: 168
Collections: Kurotsuki Sweetheart Zine





	The Good Ones Take Time

The morning sun peeking around his curtains gradually stirs Kuroo awake. He squints his eyes together tighter then blinks them open, cracking through the veil of sleep.

He’s greeted by tufts of soft, messy blond hair. Kuroo’s breath catches in his throat and his chest feels tight and warm and wonderful all at once. Last night was the first time Tsukishima stayed at his place. Kuroo’s memories make him feel tingly down to his fingertips and toes. With a contented sigh, he shuts his eyes again and gently slips his body a little closer to Tsukishima’s back, pressing his face into those soft, blond curls.

It’s new, this thing with Tsukishima, but it started ages ago. Over the past few years, they’d missed so many opportunities to finally connect like this, but it was probably for the best. Kuroo’s just begun his final year of university and knows he’s changed, grown into someone who can hold on to this, and do his best to do it right.

And part of doing it right is deciding what to do next. Kuroo wants to lie here all morning, to be there when Tsukishima wakes up to kiss and cuddle. But he also wants to carefully get out of bed, tiptoe to his kitchen, and make something nice for Tsukishima to enjoy once he’s awake. He stays as still as he can while he weighs the pros and cons of each choice, procrastinating so he can enjoy holding Tsukishima against him for a few minutes longer.

Deciding the surprise will be worth it, he hopes his kitchen is well-stocked enough to execute his plan. While the build-up was several exciting weeks long, Tsukishima spending the night was a spur of the moment decision. If Kuroo had been able to plan, he would have stocked up at the grocery store the day before to get all of Tsukishima’s favorite things. But he’s fairly confident in his culinary skills, even if his kitchen is too small and old to create very much.

As soon as he’s carefully rolled his body away from Tsukishima’s sleeping form, he feels cold all over. He pulls on his hastily discarded sweatpants from the night before and creeps out of his bedroom, closing the door painstakingly slowly so it won’t squeak like it always does.

Kuroo takes the few short steps to his kitchen, if he can really even call it that. It’s more like a single, short section of the wall in his combination kitchen/living room that happens to have a tiny two-burner stove, the world’s smallest sink, and his mini-fridge. 

The moment he opens the fridge, he realizes his dream breakfast might be little more than a fantasy at this point. All that greets him is a small carton of apple juice, some definitely questionable eggs, and some Chinese food from the last time Kenma was over. He pushes aside the leftovers and behind them is a long-forgotten tube of ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls. He checks the expiration date and smiles. Still good. And perfect for his sweet-toothed boyfriend.

Still moving lightly on his feet to not make too much noise, Kuroo turns his attention to his hand-me-down toaster oven. He pulls out the small, metal tray and thanks his past self for actually cleaning it. It’s only large enough to hold two rolls at a time, tops, but it’ll have to do. He sets it to the temperature he needs and leaves it to pre-heat while he starts to make coffee.

He stares at his coffee bean grinder and pinches his lips together in thought, cursing himself for insisting upon purchasing whole beans. The grinder is easily the loudest thing in his kitchen. But cinnamon rolls without coffee just won’t do. This is Tsukisima’s first morning here. There must be coffee.

Kuroo pours beans into the top, hovers his finger above the start button, and wraps his body around the small appliance, hoping to muffle the sound with his bare chest. He even lifts up one leg to try to get his sweatpants in on the sound reduction action. If Tsukishima were to walk in now, this is surely not what Kuroo would want him to see. He’s tense the whole time it’s on, and once it’s over he holds perfectly still, listening for any sounds of Tsukishima waking up. When there aren’t any, he gets back to work.

Two at a time, Kuroo bakes cinnamon rolls in his tiny oven. In between batches he tries to tidy his living room and spruce up his coffee table with small plants taken from his windowsill. They look out of place, but it’s better than nothing. He sets out plates, two mugs, and brings over the glass carafe of french press coffee. 

The whole time he’s just a couple of feet away from his bedroom door. He’s pretty sure he hears movement inside several times and starts to suspect that Tsukishima is awake but not willing to get out of bed just yet. Or nervous. Because Kuroo’s nervous. That excited kind of nervous that makes his hands a little shakier but his feet feel like he’s walking on air. A morning together is exhilaratingly new.

Some of the cinnamon rolls look great. Others are a little burnt, or somehow both a little burnt and a bit undercooked in the middle. He picks the best ones and sets them out on one of the four plates he owns, the plastic tube of icing resting next to them like a fancy garnish. He’s too excited to wait for them to cool and ice them himself.

He stands up, hands on his hips, and feels just a bit proud of how nice it looks.

When he goes back in his room, it’s still dim. Tsukishima’s tangled in his sheets, eyes closed, but his phone is unlocked and lying beside him. Kuroo slips into bed behind Tsukishima’s back, curling his arms around his boyfriend. He nestles into the crook of his neck. “Good morning.”

Tsukishima stretches out his legs like a cat waking from a nap. “Morning.” His voice is still thick with sleep. Tsukishima slowly twists his body so he’s on his back and looking up at Kuroo through heavy-lidded eyes. “You smell nice.”

Kuroo can’t help but smile wide. “Morning you is so much sweeter.”

Tsukishima puffs out a soft laugh. “You just smell better than you usually do.”

“Ah, there’s the boyfriend I know.” Kuroo leans in for a gentle morning kiss and Tsukishima meets him with unhurried touches, reaching up and stroking his slender fingers along the nape of Kuroo’s neck.

When Kuroo pulls away, Tsukishima rubs at his eyes and grabs his glasses off the nightstand. “You smell like coffee. Is there coffee?”

Kuroo nods excitedly. “And cinnamon rolls.”

A look flashes over Tsukishima’s face, melting his expression into something soft and a bit surprised. “You made me cinnamon rolls?” He asks slowly, hanging onto each word before he says it.

Kuroo kisses him again before he replies, “Of course!” He answers simply, because it really is that simple for him. He’ll make Tsukishima thousands of breakfasts if he’ll let him.

***

The past few times Tsukishima’s stayed over at Kuroo’s apartment, the loveable pile of bedhead has made him breakfast. Now, at least in theory, Tsukishima’s ready to return the favor. He is, however, very far from being a morning person and he stares at the simple ingredients in front of him, willing them to become muffins on their own.

He flips over the package and has to read the directions a few times before the words start to make sense. He grabs a bowl and dumps the powdery mix into it, staring suspiciously at the fake-looking strawberry bits swimming in the white flour. Next he stirs in the milk and greases the tiny muffin tin he purchased for this morning. When they go into his small oven, Tsukishima hears the sweet, sweet sound of his coffee maker alerting him to the fact that a plentiful amount of mediocre coffee is ready for consumption.

Tsukishima quietly digs through his cabinets to pick out his two favorite mugs. One is from his childhood. It’s faded over the years, but it’s from a field trip to a science museum in Sendai, the first time he ever saw dinosaur bones up close. That’ll be Kuroo’s this morning. 

The other is a gift from the man asleep in his bed. They weren’t officially dating yet, but Kuroo surprised him one random Saturday afternoon with the mug saying, “I saw it and thought of you.” It’s decorated with a pudgy cartoon crow who has his beak open wide and a speech bubble saying, “Good morning? No thank you.” That will be his mug. It often is. 

He sets them both down on the counter, then nearly leaps out of his skin when the floorboards behind him creak. “Mornin’,” Kuroo grumbles.

“God, where did you come from?” Tsukishima spins, eyeing the intruder, hating that Kuroo is forever too light on his feet.

“Aw, sorry my little Tsukki-bunny. Did I scare you?”

“No.” Tsukishima bristles at the pet name, setting his eyes back on the mugs. “You’re just not supposed to be up yet. Go back to bed.”

He hears shuffling footsteps and then feels Kuroo’s arms sneak under his and around his middle. Kuroo hums happily, resting his chin on Tsukishima’s shoulder. “Mmm, but you’re here. Bed’s cold.”

“You’re cold because you’re in your underwear.” Tsukishima twists his head, placing a kiss against a mess of bedhead. There’s only a hint of annoyance in his voice when he says, “I was trying to surprise you.”

Kuroo buries his face a little deeper against his boyfriend’s neck. His voice is muffled and still raspy from sleep. “I am surprised.”

“No, you walked in here and ruined it.”

Kuroo lifts his chin and shakes his head, his hair tickling Tsukishima’s ear. “Not ruined. I was super surprised and my heart is bursting with love and adoration.” He kisses Tsukishima’s neck once, twice, before Tsukishima squirms loose.

He turns in Kuroo’s hold so their noses touch and rests his hands on Kuroo’s chest. “I didn’t get to set the table or anything.”

“Aw, you were going to?”

“Yes,” Tsukishima replies curtly.

Kuroo smiles and warmth spreads through Tsukishima’s body. The way that something so small makes him feel so much these days would be alarming if it wasn’t so wonderful. 

“We could do it together,” Kuroo suggests.

“Oh yea?” It’s impossible to hide the smile that reaches his lips.

Kuroo nods, his face becoming impossibly closer. Tsukishima slides his hands up to Kuroo’s shoulders, then wraps them around his neck as he leans the rest of the way in to share their first proper kiss of the morning. Kuroo smells like his soap, his shampoo, but under it all is just Kuroo and Tsukishima breathes him in. His lips part on a contented sigh and Kuroo pulls him closer, their kisses insistent but relaxed.

When Kuroo steps back, Tsukishima grins. “If you’re going to help, you need to put on some clothes first.”

Kuroo strikes a stupid pose, leaning back on Tsukishima’s tiny table and throwing his head back seductively like the world’s worst underwear model. “I don’t have to. I’m at my boyfriend’s house.”

And no matter how many times Kuroo says the word, Tsukishima likes hearing the way he says “boyfriend.” Part of him still can’t believe Kuroo means him when he says it.

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “Nope. Clothes are a requirement.”

“What’s in the oven?” Kuroo asks, ignoring the demand and trying to peek around Tsukishima. He gets pushed back and laughs. “See? There’s still some surprises.”

“Good. Now go get dressed. We can have coffee while we wait for breakfast.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kuroo kisses him on the nose and exits the room with a flourish and some very poor dance moves.

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “It’s too early for your specific brand of nonsense.”

“You love it!” Kuroo calls from the hallway.

So help him, he does. This thing with Kuroo doesn’t feel like any of the others. And that is a frightening and fantastic to realize first thing in the morning about something still relatively new.

Tsukishima swallows hard and turns back to the strawberry muffins so he can watch them rise, keep an eye on them and make sure everything is just right.

***

It’s early. Much too early to be awake on a Saturday. Typically, Kuroo and Tsukishima would have slept in a little longer, stayed buried under blankets together in their new bed. But Kuroo had a new recipe for cinnamon rolls that he wanted to try, one that would take hours to get just right. 

After a busy work week, Saturdays are for baking cinnamon rolls or muffins, croissants or scones. It’s a day for wearing sweatpants and only moving between the kitchen and the living room, for dozing on their couch as dough rises and proofs. It’s a day when their whole apartment smells wonderful.

Errands and laundry can wait until Sunday.

“Did I mess up the yeast?” Tsukishima’s head pops over Kuroo’s shoulder, his lips in a tight, worried line. “I think the milk might have been a bit too warm.”

“I don’t think so.” Kuroo pokes the lump of sweet dough with his fingertip. “Feels good. Better than last week’s batch, for sure.”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue. “Don’t poke it. Knead it.” But the worry has melted away. He hovers next to Kuroo, watching the dough, asking Kuroo if it feels right, sticking his hands in, too, before they get pushed away. Kuroo is very protective over his dough. Calls it his “baby.”

That’s fine. Tsukishima brings his cup of coffee with him as he walks around their apartment watering the plants instead.

“How long did you set the timer for?” Tsukishima asks when he comes back to the living room to find Kuroo shirtless and sprawled out on their couch. He pushes Kuroo’s feet off his spot, sits, and, with only the slightest eye roll, welcomes Kuroo’s socked feet when they plop onto his lap, reclaiming their place.

“I’m checking the rise after an hour, but this recipe says we can go up to two hours.”

Tsukishima’s eyebrows raise. “It’ll be time for lunch when these things are done, you know.”

Kuroo stretches, then resettles, looking even more relaxed than before. “The good ones take time.”

“You want me to make eggs or something?” Tsukishima sets down his coffee and starts to get up, but Kuroo’s legs keep him locked in place.

“Later.” Kuroo’s eyes meet Tsukishima’s across the couch, then he scoots over a little towards the edge of the cushions, patting the now-open spot beside him. “There’s time for breakfast later.”

Tsukishima caves easily. He’s still sleepy. That spot looks warm. He slides his slender frame alongside Kuroo’s, his head tucked in under Kuroo’s chin, his feet dangling off the edge. He brings his hands up to rest in the narrow space between them.

“You smell like coffee.” Kuroo hums against his hair, wrapping an arm around his back and encouraging him to cuddle closer.

“You smell like flour,” Tsukishima smirks against his chest, “and morning breath.”

“Morning breath, huh?” Kuroo pulls back just enough so he can bend down and press his lips messily against Tsukishima’s. They laugh through the sloppy kisses and Tsukishima half-heartedly pushes him away.

“Go brush your teeth,” Tsukishima says when the onslaught of morning kisses is finished.

Kuroo shakes his head and slumps back against the lumpy couch pillow. “Later.”

Tsukishima curls back into his earlier spot, his forehead pressed against Kuroo’s bare chest, his fingers weaving little lines across his stomach, his sides. “Are we saving everything for later, then?”

Kuroo nods and gives a sleepy hum of agreement.

Tsukishima closes his eyes. “That sounds perfect.”

They both grow still and quiet as the fog of sleep begins taking over once again. When Kuroo shifts to free his arm that was pinned under him, he asks quietly and without opening his eyes, “What are you filling the rolls with today?”

Tsukishima yawns. “Butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, obviously.” He stretches his legs and then curls up tighter. “But I crushed some pecans and got some grated coconut, too.”

Their long legs are a tangled mess on a couch that’s not quite big enough to fit them both, but Kuroo can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else right now. “Can’t wait to see what happens.”

Tsukishima places a sleepy kiss against his chest and smiles. “Me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cheers to the entire [@kurotsukizine](https://twitter.com/kurotsukizine) family for being so excellent and enjoyable to work with. This was my first zine and the bar was set high. Everyone was so friendly and the end result brought happy tears to my eyes when I finally got to hold it in my hands.
> 
> If you got the zine, I hope you enjoyed reading it on those lovely pages. If you didn't, I hope you enjoyed it today!
> 
> Kurotsukki deserve all the sweet, fluffy mornings!   
> (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡
> 
> Chat with me on Twitter - [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


End file.
